Exegesis:
hupostrepsantes eis ton oikon lit. ‘having returned to the house,’ i.e. of the centurion.
hoi pemphthentes ‘those who had been sent,’ i.e. by the centurion (cf. Phillips), hence “the messengers” (An American Translation, New English Bible, and others), refers to the friends of the centurion (v. 6).
heuron ton doulon hugiainonta ‘they found the slave in good health.’ The story implicitly assumes that Jesus did speak the healing word and did not go to the centurion’s house.
Translation:
They found the slave well. The verb ‘to find’ with accusative and following participle or adjective is often (cf. also 8.35; 11.25; 19.30) used of coming where somebody or something is and perceiving the action or state of being he or it is in. Here one may have to render it, ‘they came where the slave was and saw that he was well (again),’ or simply, ‘and there they saw that the slave was well (again).’ For well, or, ‘in good health,’ see on 5.31. For complete and instant recovery the Tboli idiom is, ‘as if the bal has come-to-life-again,’ referring to a small animal that often shams dead but the next moment may scamper away like lightning.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
